Probe on ‘doctored’ Gujarat riots affidavits

Gandhinagar, July 11 (IANS) The Gujarat High Court Monday gave the go-ahead to police investigation into filing of “doctored” affidavits on behalf of victims of the 2002 riots before various courts.

A single judge bench of Justice M.R. Shah rejected a petition filed by the registrar of a sessions court challenging the order of a magisterial court, which entrusted a probe against former aide of Teesta Setalvad, Rais Khan, and others, to the police.

Khan, formerly associated with Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), had confessed before the various forums and court that he and Setalwad had fabricated affidavits and statements of the riot victims and submitted them before the lower courts and Supreme Court.

Taking cognizance of these, designated judge of Naroda Gam massacre case, S.H. Vora, had asked the registrar of the city civil and sessions court to file a complaint before the magisterial court against Khan and others.

A metropolitan magistrate had subsequently directed the police to probe the case and file a report in 30 days.

However, the registrar sought the high court’s intervention on this, by terming proceedings initiated by the magistrate as “erroneous”.

Justice Shah, who gave the verdict on challenge of the magisterial court’s order, in his judgment, accepted special public prosecutor J.M. Panchal’s arguments.

Panchal, who appeared for the state, had submitted that the magistrate’s order was just, proper and legal.

He submitted that the magistrate had the jurisdiction to order the investigation.

Khan had claimed that the false affidavits of those witnesses and many other victims of the 2002 riot cases were prepared at behest of Setalvad to get the trial shifted outside Gujarat.

He requested the court to summon him as a witness under provisions of Code of Criminal Procedure to prove that the witnesses had falsely implicated him and had lied before the court.